Minimum Wage in Malaysia
Minimum wage in Malaysia: need for it and its’ possible effectiveness
1.0.Introduction
Background Information
There has been growing debates concerning the minimum wage in Malaysia, with strong opinions from both sides of the arguments. In 1979 edition of their introductory textbook, William B. Aumol and Alan Blinder explained, “The primary consequence of the minimum wage law is not an increase in the incomes of the least skilled workers but a restriction of their employment opportunities” (p.47). On the other side of the debate, social activists, policymakers and other non-economists often argue for an increase in the minimum wage. Advocates of the minimum wage have included Franklin D. Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, A. Philip Randolph, Walter R. Reuther, Edward Filene, Beatrice and Sydney Webb. Finally, Malaysia took its stance and made its first legislative attempt at putting in place a national minimum wage on twenty first June 2011 .Introduced by Human Resources Deputy Minister, Maznah Mazlan in Parliament, the National Wages Consultative Council (NWCC) bill was tabled for its first reading.
Most significantly, the general public does not widely share the negative opinion of the minimum wage, according to surveys. What questions us, is whether there is a need for minimum wage, and if there, how effective it might be.
Statement of the Problem
This paper will investigate on the need and the effectiveness of the yet to be minimum wage bill among security guards, cleaners with its current value of RM720. The idea of having a national minimum wage in Malaysia has been proposed more than 12 years ago by the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC), when Tun Mahatir was still the Prime Minister, and has been continuously rejected, until more recently, the current prime minister, Datuk Seri Najib has stated in the Malaysia Budget 2011 speech “Businesses must embrace the minimum wage as a business strategy”.
A minimum wage theoretically, is planned to affect
1.0.Introduction
Background Information
There has been growing debates concerning the minimum wage in Malaysia, with strong opinions from both sides of the arguments. In 1979 edition of their introductory textbook, William B. Aumol and Alan Blinder explained, “The primary consequence of the minimum wage law is not an increase in the incomes of the least skilled workers but a restriction of their employment opportunities” (p.47). On the other side of the debate, social activists, policymakers and other non-economists often argue for an increase in the minimum wage. Advocates of the minimum wage have included Franklin D. Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, A. Philip Randolph, Walter R. Reuther, Edward Filene, Beatrice and Sydney Webb. Finally, Malaysia took its stance and made its first legislative attempt at putting in place a national minimum wage on twenty first June 2011 .Introduced by Human Resources Deputy Minister, Maznah Mazlan in Parliament, the National Wages Consultative Council (NWCC) bill was tabled for its first reading.
Most significantly, the general public does not widely share the negative opinion of the minimum wage, according to surveys. What questions us, is whether there is a need for minimum wage, and if there, how effective it might be.
Statement of the Problem
This paper will investigate on the need and the effectiveness of the yet to be minimum wage bill among security guards, cleaners with its current value of RM720. The idea of having a national minimum wage in Malaysia has been proposed more than 12 years ago by the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC), when Tun Mahatir was still the Prime Minister, and has been continuously rejected, until more recently, the current prime minister, Datuk Seri Najib has stated in the Malaysia Budget 2011 speech “Businesses must embrace the minimum wage as a business strategy”.
A minimum wage theoretically, is planned to affect
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